Sri Lanka busts forged medical certificates' scam for Gulf workers

Job seekers who already failed medicals were targets

By

Correspondent

PublishedSunday, December 09, 2012

Sri Lankan police have busted a major racket dealing in forged medical certificates for job-seekers in the Middle East.

Police officers of the Unit 1 of the Colombo Fraud Bureau have arrested a woman and three other accused from a house in Dematagoda, Colombo, with forged medical certificates, according to a report in the Sinhala daily ‘Lankadeepa’.

Acting on a tip-off, the raid revealed 300 forged medical certificates prepared according to the specimen of certificates issued by various medical institutes.

In addition, an English type writer, two forged rubber stamps similarly used by government registered medical institutions, two passports and numerous certificates were taken into police custody.

Initial investigation by the police have revealed that the accused charged huge sums from people who failed medical examinations for the Middle East, by providing them forged medical certificates.

Housemaids and those working in the hospitality industry in particular are required to undergo strictmedicals before being issued a work visa for countries like the UAE.

The report claims that many could have already secured foreign employment by submitting these forged medical certificates.

A 70-year old granny cornered a thief and helped the police arrest him in the Halloluwa area in Kandy, central Sri Lanka.

According to local media, the thief, in his 30s, is accused of robbing cash and three mobile phones. The old woman saw him robbing a phone, followed him and then cornered him on a street corner, calling for help.

Passersby rushed to the scene and managed to hold the thief till the police arrived.